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Lepidoptric imaging Scientists are using a five million year old design to make a better infrared detector.

Dr Radislav Potyrailo and colleagues at General Electric in the United States are copying the microscopic structures found on the scales of butterfly wings to develop new technology with medical, industrial and military applications.

Reporting in the journal Nature Photonics, Potyrailo and colleagues examined the iridescent colours produced by the wings of the tropical Morpho sulkowskyi butterfly, found in Columbia, Ecuador and Peru.

The morpho genus of butterflies first appeared five million years ago. Their iridescent colours are produced by wing scales made up of nano-sized ridges, folds and micro-ribs.

Cost effective

According to Potyrailo, the new infrared detectors would use dynamic response fluorinated silicone polymers, wouldn't require a heat sink and will be cheaper to manufacture, driving costs down.

"They could be used in many thermal imaging applications including security systems, fire fighting and night vision goggles," he says.

"There's also early diagnostics in medical applications, and non-destructive inspection and testing of electrical components and mechanical rotating parts. We could even see them in mobile phones and on cars."